Our Universe is what surrounds us. Space is not just empty, it is filled with a mass of objects such as stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies, black holes, pulsars, quasars.
We can see what is available to us, thanks to the latest technological innovations. Everything that can be captured using powerful telescopes is called the visible Universe. Who knows what is there, beyond our consciousness and understanding? But now we will talk about the largest planets in the solar system.
Mercury
Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the Sun. The mass of Mercury is only one twentieth of the mass of our planet, and its the radius is approximately two and a half times smaller than the radius of the Earth and amounts to 2440 kilometers. This is a small but incredibly hot planet. The temperature on Mercury can reach up to 400 degrees Celsius and this is explained by the proximity of the celestial body with respect to the surface of the sun. For the first time, the planet was investigated in detail with the help of the powerful Mariner-10 space probe in 1975.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet remotest from the Sun. Its age is similar to the age of the Earth and, according to scientists, it is about four and a half billion years. The radius of Mars is 3390 kilometers and because of this, gravity is much less than on Earth. Gravity on Mars will seem comfortable to you, since a person loses up to 60 percent of body weight under similar conditions. Large jumps in temperature are observed on Mars. At the equator of the planet, the temperature can reach 20 degrees of heat. At the poles, this is already a serious cold (up to minus 120 degrees Celsius).
Venus
Venus is the second planet remotest from the Sun. Although the heavenly body was named after the goddess of love and beauty, it is important to note that the world of Venus is incredibly hostile. The mass of Venus is not much different from the mass of the Earth, and it is approximately 82 percent of the mass of the earth. Day on Venus lasts as long as 243 days, and the full cycle of orbital rotation of the celestial body completes in 225 days. Venus is similar to Earth in mass, size and composition. The radius of Venus is about 6052 kilometers.
The atmosphere on the planet consists of nitrogen, water vapor, sulfuric acid, argon and carbon dioxide in high concentrations. Venus has no satellites, and it has its own atmosphere, which is absolutely unsuitable for life, since it consists mainly of carbon dioxide.
Land
Earth is our home. The planet is the third remotest from the Sun. The age of the Earth reaches 4.5 billion years, and according to scientists, the Earth was formed from dust, gas and small osteroids after the formation of the Sun. Earth is not the largest planet in the solar system. In size, it is slightly larger than Venus and its the average radius is 6371 kilometers. Our planet is the only one inhabited in the solar system due to its atmosphere. The surface of the earth is 80 percent water.
Neptune
Neptune looks incredibly beautiful. The atmosphere of the planet is blue, and it consists of impurities of methane and helium. The planet was discovered almost immediately after the discovery of Uranus in 1781.The diameter of the planet Uranus is about 49 thousand kilometers. Neptune exceeds the size of the Earth exactly seventeen times. A rather militant atmosphere reigns on the planet.
Wind speed in some parts of Neptune can reach six hundred kilometers per hour. Unusual cloud stripes on the surface of the planet captured Voyager. The temperature on Neptune drops to minus 220 degrees Celsius and this is a real ice world, located far from our star.
Uranus
Uranium is another gas giant that attracts attention. Before us is a real ice world consisting of gas. Uranus was discovered by William Herschel, who noticed an object in the constellation of twins.The discovery was reported to the Royal Scientific Community of Great Britain. The scientist was puzzled that the surface of an incomprehensible object was round, which corresponded to the planet. At first, Uranus was called the "Star of George", but later he was given a name in honor of one of the Greek gods. The diameter of Uranus is fifty thousand kilometers. Its diameter is four times the diameter of the Earth. Moreover, it weighs fourteen times more than our planet. By the way, this planet has a huge number of moons. Uranus is surrounded by twenty-seven moons of various diameters that constantly revolve around it. The diameter of the moons varies from one and a half to twenty kilometers.
Uranus itself consists of gas, but its moons include rocks and ice. The heart of the planet is a rocky core, which is surrounded by a solid layer of water. The atmosphere of Uranus is methane and ammonia. In the upper atmosphere of the planet, a cocktail of methane, helium, hydrogen.
Saturn
Saturn is not only one of the largest, but also one of the most beautiful planets in the solar system. Discovered Saturn was a famous scientist Galileo Galilei and this event happened back in 1610. The diameter of Saturn is about 116 thousand kilometers. Around Saturn there are impressive rings that extend at a distance of up to 120 thousand kilometers from the surface of the planet. The mass of Saturn is 95 times higher than the mass of our Earth.
The gas giant has impressive clouds, which are much wider to the equator than at the poles of the planet. Saturn's atmosphere is extremely unstable. Colossal hurricanes and whirlwinds are constantly raging on its surface. Another Saturn phenomenon is white spots that look like the famous red spot of Jupiter.
The largest planet in the solar system
JupiterThe largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter, hehas a diameter of 142,974 kilometers. The celestial body was named after one of the ancient Roman gods. This planet is visible to the naked eye from Earth. Jupiter is so huge that it could accommodate all the planets of our solar system. This is a gas giant, in which the real kingdom of cold reigns. Due to its colossal size, Jupiter rotates very fast. A day on Jupiter lasts only ten hours. And all this happens due to the pronounced centrifugal force that exists on the equator of the planet.
The planet has not only the largest mass and diameter in the solar system, but also the largest number of satellites. In total, Jupiter has sixty satellites that revolve around it. The four largest satellites, almost the size of the Earth, were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 after lengthy observations of a celestial body. The atmosphere of Jupiter consists mainly of hydrogen and helium.
Its surface is an endless ocean of hydrogen. The magnetosphere of Jupiter is twenty times stronger than the magnetosphere of our Earth. And on the surface of Jupiter the strongest storms and hurricanes are constantly raging, because of this you can see a red spot on it.
